The present invention relates to small, battery-operated, portable glucose analysis instruments such as used by diabetics as part of blood glucose self-monitoring. In particular, the present invention relates to a glucose analysis instrument for diabetics with a signaling device for generating a reminder signal.
Analytical instruments of this type are used to analyze a reaction that proceeds in an analysis element (also called “bio-sensor” or “test strip”) after it contacts a sample liquid. The sample liquid is typically obtained by means of a skin prick, such as into a finger tip. Depending on the depth of the skin penetration, the sample liquid usually comprises a mixture of blood and interstitial fluid from the skin. Despite the fact that it is not pure blood that is being analyzed, it is customary to speak of “blood glucose analysis systems”. The present invention relates in particular to such systems (so-called invasive systems that are customary for self-monitoring).
Glucose analysis instruments which additionally comprise a signaling device for generating a reminder signal are commercially available, for example under the trademark “ACCU-CHEK® GO”. The signaling device of the ACCU-CHEK® GO glucose analysis instrument can be set for a many as three times of the day at which it reminds the user of a required blood glucose measurement, by means of an audio signal. The times of the day are selected by the user and entered into the instrument by means of keys.
Because glucose analysis instruments are typically taken along by diabetics at all times, a compact design is generally beneficial. A consequence of a compact design is that operating elements such as keys, buttons, displays, or similar aspects of the instrument can be provided only in very small form and generally few in number. Consequently, the inputting of times at which an audio signal is to be emitted as a reminder of a blood glucose measurement is difficult and inconvenient. This applies in particular to individuals whose manual abilities are reduced due to age or disease.
US 2003/0175806 A1 describes a blood glucose analysis instrument suitable for significantly more frequent determination of blood glucose concentration, as compared to customary instruments, in that the measurement is carried out at alternative measuring sites (Alternative Site Testing, or “AST”). The measuring method works without reagents, preferably in a non-invasive fashion. In this context, it is described as an option to carry out additional measurements by means of a conventional invasive (“finger-stick”) analysis and to remind the user of the need to carry out a blood analysis measurement at a plurality of times during the day. According to an alternative described in this regard, the reminder time is not inputted into the instrument (like in the ACCU-CHEK® GO instrument), but rather it is determined taking into consideration the current glucose value, a nominal glucose value, and measured maximal and minimal values of the measured concentration. The instrument then stores a “case history” of concentration values that were measured which are then used by a processor of the instrument to determine the reminder times by means of mathematical prediction methods.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved way by which users can be reminded of the need to carry out a blood glucose measurement at individually suitable times.